Loud House: Shadow Luck
by Mysterious Mr M
Summary: While trying to sleep outside after his family kicked him out, Lincoln meets a very strange man. The Shadow Man.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A side project I decided to put up while working on The Marvelous Eleven. Won't be long, probably going to be about 3 to 5 chapters, if that. I hope you enjoy. As usual I own nothing, everything belongs to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 1

In the cold dead of night Lincoln Loud tried diligently to rest, but the bumpy, cold, and wet ground of early spring worked just as diligently to prevent him from dozing off. The white haired boy was tired not just physically, but mentally and figuratively too. All he wanted was a little time to himself. Some me time. Granted perhaps spreading a rumor amongst his family that he was bad luck in order to get out of going to one of his sisters' activities wasn't such a hot idea. But when you're in a family as big as his, and with parents who take the side of the girls more often than their only son, then you can see why he thought the idea was good in the first place.

And look where that idea got him: outside, in his pajamas, and locked out of the house. To say that his family had gone overboard with their superstitions was an understatement. Granted he could see his mother watching him from behind the blinds in order to make sure he was alright - meaning that his parents knew it was all a ruse and turned it on him to teach him a lesson. But that didn't excuse boarding up his room, nor the treatment he had been getting from his sisters'. Especially since they treated him similarly to this on a weekly basis, and for a majority of his life too.

But the boy continued in his endeavor to try and sleep, even if mother nature tried her damndest to make sure he didn't, and even after his mother had gone off to bed. No doubt to rouse her husband from slumber to take over watching him. But that mattered little to the only boy amongst ten girls as the sandman constantly teased the sands of slumber over his face. The boy yawned loudly as the thralls of sleep continued to try and seduce him. But the earth refused to let the seduction succeed as it razed Lincoln's back.

The boy's eyes closed on several occasions, only to snap open when the feeling of the uncomfortable surface of the planet registered in his brain not a moment after. Upon the eleventh time this happened the eleven year old saw something very, very, very strange. Standing before the sleep deprived child was a tall man wearing a black dress suit, pants and shoes, along with a white dress shirt, tie and socks. And atop his hairless head was a top hat signifying that he was either someone of high class, or with class. But the strangest things about the man were his skin, mouth, and eyes.

Instead of the fair, colorful, and healthy skin one would associate with someone of this attire, the man's skin was pitch black, darker than night, deeper than Lucy's hair, and yet somehow distinguishable from the suit the man wore. His eyes and mouth on the other hand were a stark contrast with the rest of his being. Where his eyes should be were two flawless, bright, and full white circles, with the mouth not being barely any different from the two peepholes. The man looked unnatural, like something that shouldn't be here, and his smile not only screamed that he had a ulterior motive but that he wanted to help.

But compared to the company he had endured recently, it was a welcome change. It was at least someone new and not someone he knew for his whole life. Sure that may be a bit too harsh and over exaggerative, but consider his current position. Wouldn't you want a change in company?

* * *

"Hello Lincoln." Said the man.

Lincoln yawned before answering. "Hello mysterious dark man in my backyard and personal space." The man chuckled. "What brings you here?"

"Oh nothing," he said, "I was just passing through and saw you outside, on the cold uncomfortable ground, and not inside in your room." He tilted his head to look at the boy directly in the eyes. "Mind telling me why?"

Despite his natural instincts yelling at him that he shouldn't do that the boy did so anyway. "My family kicked me out of the house, and locked me out, because they think I'm bad luck."

"I don't think that's good parenting." The man said with a chuckle.

"You're telling me." Lincoln said as he adjusted his body to try and find a decent sleeping position. After a moment of trying he just laid back down on his back.

"You can sneak back in through your window can't you?" The man asked.

"No, they locked that to," Lincoln said in annoyance, "and how did you know my room had a window?"

"Common sense boy, common sense."

"Something my family lacks right now."

"Indeed." The man agreed.

Silence enveloped the two as they struck a wall in the cavern of conversation. After a few minutes of silence, and finding nothing better to do other than look at the stars, the man asked Lincoln something.

"Would you like to make a deal with me, Lincoln?" The boy looked at the man in confusion. "Nothing illegal, bloody, or malicious if that's what you're wondering."

"But what could either of us offer the other?" Lincoln asked, his confusion not quelled at all. "If anything it would be pointless."

The man chuckled and smiled wider. "Surely boy you would've seen that I am not of your world, or even your universe."

The boy scrunched his face in thought before his jaw dropped in realization after years worth of comic knowledge, and that dream he had, came down on him. "You mean?"

"Yes Lincoln." The man said as he moved to stand in front of the boy, bowed, and removed his top hat mid bow. "I'm the Shadow Man, a being from another universe. Though your people call me the Hat Man." He stood back up and placed his hat back on his head. "And I have a deal you can't refuse."

As he stared at the Shadow Man is shock the boy could only nod in acknowledgement.

The man from another world chuckled at the child's shell shocked expression and said. "The deal is simple, Lincoln. In return for making sure that you never feel any pain ever again, I want you to help me in something I've been working on. Simple right?"

The white haired child shook his head to snap himself out of his stupor, and said. "Wait, what do you mean by 'never feel any pain ever again'? And what if what you're working on involves taking over the world, or worse, destroying it?"

"Now, now, child I did say that the deal wasn't illegal, bloody, or malicious now didn't I?" Shadow Man said as he held his hands up in reassurance. "And besides, what I mean by 'never feel any pain ever again' is that your family will never mistreat you ever again."

Lincoln looked at the interdimensional entity with distrust as he thought over his words. He did say that it wasn't illegal, meaning that his family wouldn't be going to prison or foster care, and world domination definitely fell into that category. As did destruction, but that went without saying. He also said that the deal wasn't bloody, meaning he wouldn't kill his family or cause them to die by manipulation. And all of this fell under malicious so it wasn't that either. But, despite the go over, the boy wasn't convinced.

Seeing that Lincoln was still skeptical the Shadow Man smiled. "Allow me to alleviate your skepticism with a song." He clapped his hands, causing New Orleans style music to play from nowhere and miraculously not waking anyone up.

* * *

 **"Yeah,"** he went around Lincoln, pulled him up to his feet, and twirled him around to face him. **"Nice to meetcha."**

He coiled around Lincoln. **"I'm the Shadow Man, the shadow man, I move in the shadows with a shadowy plan."**

He flipped the boy into the air before elongating himself, and allowing Lincoln to land on him in a makeshift hammock. **"I live somewhere between night and day, I'm the Shadow Man. See?"**

He maneuvered to face Lincoln. **"Wherever you go, I'm right behind you."** He boops Lincoln on the nose. **"You might not see me, but, I'm gonna find you. To shadow you,"** he straightens himself causing Lincoln to fall, **"that's the plan. Call me the Shadow Man."**

He catches Lincoln right before he hits the ground, sets him down before twirling him, and struts around him after he stops and regains his balance. **"I'm a sharp dressed cat, cool as can be. Here in your reality there ain't no one like me."**

He bends over Lincoln's shoulder to face him. **"You're looking for a thrill, I'm the shadowy one."** He coils around Lincoln before tossing him into the air again, and pumps his arms in the air. **"Your one stop shop for some shadowy fun!"**

He produces a cane from nowhere, and catches Lincoln on it perfectly and without any harm done. **"I'm the king of easy street,"** he sways the cane a bit, **"I'm the man you've got to meet."**

He slants the cane toward the ground, causing Lincoln to roll onto the ground. As the boy sat up to look at him he raised his arms theatrically. **"I've been here since time began, call me the Shadow Man."**

The Shadow Man stopped singing as jazz music broke into the song, and he began slickly and smoothly dancing to it. Before long he starts singing again. **"I'm a sharp dressed cat,"** he pops his lapels, **"cool as can be. Here in your reality there ain't no one like me."** He gestures to himself.

Lincoln was swiftly lifted from the ground and juggled between the entity's knees. **"You're looking for a thrill, I'm the shadowy one."** He proceeds to dance with Lincoln in a similar manner to when the jazz instrumental kicked in. **"You're one stop shop for some shadowy fun!"**

He sets Lincoln down. **"Yeah, I'm the king of easy street! Yeah, I'm the man you've got to meet!"** He slickly dances and coils around Lincoln.

 **"I've been here since time began."** He stops right in front of Lincoln, looking as if he never moved in the first place, bowed to the boy with his hat removed. Facing the boy with an eerie smile. **"Call me the Shadow Man."**

The Shadow Man chuckled as Lincoln recovered from the experience he just went through, stood back up straight, and placed his hat back onto his head. The music faded out as Lincoln recovered.

* * *

"W-w-wow," he said, "that was, wow."

Shadow Man chuckled. "Well boy, do we have a deal?" He stuck out his hand for Lincoln to shake. The boy looked at the appendage in contemplation for a few seconds, and turned to the Loud house with a contemplative look for a brief moment.

He turned back to the Shadow Man with an unsure expression.

"I don't know," he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Don't tell me that you're fine with everything they've done." Shadow Man said in exasperation. "When was the last time your sisters have done anything for you that wasn't for a ulterior motive, or pity, or just to clear their conscious? When was the last time they ever got in trouble for their actions? When was the last time you didn't get in trouble for what they did, or for something you didn't even do?"

As the Shadow Man asked these questions Lincoln's expression slowly changed from uncertainty to contemplation, and from contemplation to panic.

"When was the last time your parents didn't take their side of the argument, regardless if they had evidence against you or not?" The Shadow Man was nearly shouting at this point.

Lincoln's face soon turned to realization.

"When was the last time that you were treated like their brother and son, and not their servant, bus boy, or designated monkey?" The Shadow Man said solemnly.

Lincoln looked completely destroyed. He tried to remember something that would answer the Shadow Man's questions. Something that would prove he wasn't the family monkey. Something that would prove that he was a member of the family, and not something for them to use at their discretion. And what did he get?

Lori's bossiness, insults, lording of her age, and using him as an ottoman.

Leni using him as a model.

Luna, his guardian, avoiding him because of some superstition.

Luan's constant pranks, puns, and prank-apocalypses.

Lynn's roughhousing, and inane BS that started this whole thing.

Lana's pets getting into his bed, and constant mud tracking.

Lola's constant and insipid blackmailing, tattle taling, and brattiness.

And Lisa's experiments. Every. Last. One. Of. Them.

He remembered every taunt, every insult, every last thing that could justify taking this deal, and that's not even mentioning his parents. But when he did think of his parents he made his decision. He took a firm hold of the Shadow Man's hand and shook it just as firmly to ensure that this was no mistake on his part.

And then he knew no more.

* * *

 **A/N: The song used is a modified version of Shadow Man - Dr. Facilier, from the Princess and the Frog. No the Shadow Man isn't Facilier, but he does have his voice. Please read and review to let me know what you thought.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapter 2 of Shadow Luck, as usual I own nothing since everything belongs to their respective owners. This one is mainly introspection about the Louds that will be playing a major role in this story. Not to say that the rest won't have a role, but the ones focused on here will have more significance.**

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Chapter 2

The denizens of the Loud House were many things. Hypocritical, brash, opinionated, and wild. But fist and foremost they were a loving family who cared for it's members unconditionally. That is not to say however that they were not idiots. There were numerous occasions where the only son of the family was blamed for something, be it something he didn't do, wasn't even involved in, or didn't have any evidence to convict him. He was always the one who got in trouble for no real reason.

And the Louds stupidly made this a common occurrence. Toilet's clogged? Well Lincoln just got back, and since clearly no one used it before then, and despite it not being clogged until right then, he must've somehow done it. Lincoln offers to go to the grocery store to get the groceries, and your ten daughters decide to go with him ultimately getting the family banned? Well despite the fact that he was doing so to get something, thus meaning that he would be on his best behavior and knowing of the girls' natural chaotic behavior, he must've done it. His sisters are the clear instigators? His fault. He wasn't even there? His fault. He wasn't even involved? His fault.

And while this time was technically his fault, the reaction by his family was just plain disgusting. Boarding up his room? Kicking him out of the house, and locking him out? The family was lucky that people were asleep or they would be facing child services. The good news was that Lincoln was gone so that no one could do such a thing. The bad news? Lincoln was gone. And it was this sight that made Rita Loud drop the bowl of Zombie Bran she had prepared for her only son after she opened the door to the backyard.

But let's rewind a little bit.

* * *

It was around eight or nine in the morning on a lovely saturday. A reasonable time to be up and prepare breakfast for the kids. Unfortunately for Lynn Sr. he had an angry wife to deal with, and her anger was very much justified.

"You were supposed to wake me up so I could take over!" She yelled at the cowering man. "Not continue to doze off after I wake you up and went to sleep!" To say the the matriarch was mad was an understatement. She was livid, and who wouldn't be? She had just woken up to not only discover that her husband was not only still in bed, but also to the realization that he hadn't even done his shift, or woken her up to take her next shift.

"S-s-sorry s-sweetie." Lynn Sr. said timidly. Unfortunately for him he chose the wrong words to say right now.

"Sorry? Sorry?" Rita shouted. "Do you have any idea what could've happened to Lincoln while we were dozing off in dreamland? He could've been kidnapped! Attacked by animals! And god forbid, murdered in our backyard! And all you can say is sorry?" She was fuming, with anger filled breaths rapidly entering and leaving her nostrils, and red in the face.

Lynn Sr. meekly nodded and further cowered into the blanket, only to be met with an unbelieving scoff from his blond lover as she stormed out of the room.

Somehow none of the kids woke up from this.

But that hardly mattered as the mother of eleven angrily stomped toward the kitchen, made herself a glass of orange juice to calm her nerves, and pulled out the necessary things to make a bowl of cereal. As she got everything her mood began to lessen, not to the point of being completely void of anger mind you, but to the point of being able to clearly think of a punishment for her husband. If anything happened to her baby boy he would pay.

As she poured the cereal first she took a brief glance at the box itself. Zombie Bran, the cereal Lincoln had wanted to get on the day he asked if he could take care of the groceries. And while she was thankful to her little boy for doing so, the fact that they were now banned from the store did tick her off quite a bit, and the resulting anger caused her to blame him in the process. In all honesty that wasn't her best moment, especially since she was painfully aware of her daughters' chaotic behavior and the fact that the oldest of them - who were supposed to be the most well behaved - were there too.

Needless to say that when she got over her anger she quickly put two and two together, she lifted Lincoln's grounding, apologized, and properly punished the girls. And while that strain on her relationship with her son was repaired when she took him to her job, she couldn't help but be ashamed that she had done something so stupid when the common sense of life with her family screamed at her what was so painfully obvious.

Rita sighed. And now she would have to reconcile with her son again, and after pulling one of the stupidest moves a parent could do. Lord, it would be a miracle if Lincoln forgave her for this. But upon noticing that the bowl was almost filled to the brim she stopped her lamenting, and put the box down, rolling up the breech in the bag, and closing it securely. After that came the milk, and the careful placement of the spoon to ensure that the dish didn't overflow. Upon seeing the dish she had prepared for her son she sighed in dejection.

"I have a lot to make up for." She said as she carefully maneuvered to the back door and opened it.

The sound of breaking glass and a scream worthy of an A grade horror movie was what woke the kids up.

* * *

He felt nothing, knew almost nothing, and desired nothing. All he knew was that the body that lay before him was that of a young boy with white hair, and black eyes. A boy he somehow knew. A boy who was hurt and, for all intents and purposes, was dead. Yes he had his pulse, but if one were to look in his brain they would find almost absolutely nothing. Next to no brain activity with only the automatic functions such as heart beat, nutrient distribution, digestion, organ operation, blood circulation, and the immune system working as if nothing happened. And even then it wasn't in the concrete land of the humans anymore. It now resided with him in the abstract realms of the Wraiths.

When the human woman screamed and dropped the bowl in her hands, sending its contents across the porch, he found that he felt something. A strange sense of satisfaction, an odd glee that formed from what appeared to be karma taking the reigns. But that wasn't possible, it felt and knew almost nothing. How could it feel satisfaction or glee? But that wasn't all, when the woman frantically ran about the small space of green he felt a sense of rigidness and dissatisfaction. As if her sorrow and suffering from the situation wasn't enough. But how could that be? She was clearly crying, clearly suffering, and clearly remorseful of what he assumed was the boy's disappearance.

But then again he was just born last night. But when a lone male and ten other females came out of the house asking what was wrong, and the black and grey one gasped upon seeing him, he took it all as a sign that he should leave. So, picking up the boy's body, he went to the side of the house, walked up the wall, and entered what he believed to be the boy's room.

Something told him that it shouldn't be as barren as it was though.

* * *

Upon waking up by a scream Lucy Loud quickly got out of her coffin and contemplated whether or not to be a little bit worried or completely worried that something bad had clearly happened. If it had anything to personally do with her siblings, like say losing an item, than she would be a little bit worried. But if it had anything to do with their parents in any way, then she had reason to be really worried.

"Ugh," Lynn said annoyed, "Lincoln probably jinxed something." She got up from her bed and headed downstairs as a fairly brisk pace as the other elder sisters ran downstairs to see what the problem was.

Upon hearing that accusation though Lucy felt as if whatever had happened did involve Lincoln. But not in the way Lynn thought, or in a good way. It couldn't have been if someone screamed bloody murder.

"Sigh," she said in her usual monotone, "thinking about it now, I'm an idiot." And she felt that she had every right to say that. Because if Lincoln was indeed cursed to be a jinx, then why did she blindly go along with it instead of consulting the spirits for the truth? Great Grandma Harriet would definitely have told her the truth if she had asked. But nope she, the supernatural expert of the family, had went along with Lynn's superstitions and partook in the kick out and lock out of her one and only brother. As she exited her room and walked down the stairs she continued to think.

Dark Lords above and below, slap her if she was correct that she was an idiot. Lisa did have a point on having too much trust in the supernatural, even if she herself didn't believe in the supernatural.

Upon thinking that thought of her brainiac sister Lucy stopped midway through the stairs. "Wait a minute," she said, "I'm the supernatural one, Lynn's the superstitious one, and Lisa's the scientific one." She paused for a moment to wrap her head around that. "How in the world did Lisa not run any test on this? Let alone fall for it?" She asked loudly as the realization of her family's idiocy surfaced.

Lucy slapped herself. "Great, first I make him miss his convention, and now this." She sighed. "Demons below I have a lot of making up to do. And apologizing. And maybe some truth telling just for good measure."

She went down the stairs, into the kitchen, and out the back door to the backyard. Pushing past her sisters to see what had happened. What she saw made her gasp. It was a grey being about Lincoln's height that looked almost exactly like him, except with black eyes with white pinpricks for pupils, black hair, and an openly exposed ribcage with a strange black substance inside it that was animating the entity.

Apparently it had heard her because it picked up Lincoln's body, moved to the side of the house with Lincoln's room, and vanished from sight. Looking back at her family, who had spread out about the backyard and started hollering for Lincoln, Lucy quickly deduced that she was the only person to see the entity.

As well as the only person to see the Shadow Man peeking out from behind the tree with an eerie smile and a wave.

* * *

Lori Loud wasn't that much of a crier, only really doing so when it involved her Bobby-boo-boo-bear or something happened in the family. But as her mother tearfully and shakily talked to the police officer on the phone downstairs to file a missing person's report, she cried like a newborn babe. And why shouldn't she? Her little brother was missing, ripped from the vicinity of the house in the dead of night not only because dear old dad neglected to take his shift, but also because they had put him outside like an animal in the first place. If you were to ask Lori what her relationship with her siblings was like, she would say that it was rocky at best. Especially her relationship with her one and only brother.

If you asked Lori then she would say that they've had their good times, but if you Lincoln then he would say that they've also had bad times. Using him as an ottoman was one such time on Lincoln's own accord. The thing is, unlike the superstitious Lynn who refuses to accept her faults, Lori did come to realize how stupid the whole situation was last night. Being the oldest did have it's perks, but it also came with it's lessons and experiences. Why did Lincoln seem like bad luck? Because he staged it to make it seem that way in order to get some time to himself. Something that she herself had done a couple times. Granted she pretended to be sick, but the basic fundamentals were there.

She probably should've spoken up when the idea to board up Lincoln's room was brought up. Or when someone, she forgot who but it was probably Lola, suggested that idea of putting Lincoln outside like a dog. She should've spoken up, but instead she was an idiot. Upon realizing that in the dead of the previous night she made a resolve to undo this whole thing, and teach Lynn a lesson about being a sore loser. It would take a bit of time, and would probably only work if Lincoln did something himself, but it would be a step to earning her brother's forgiveness. What she had partaken in was too much, even by the standards of their usual treatment of him.

Which is what brought the phone obsessed girl down another notch on the ladder of guilt: the overall treatment she and the others dish out onto Lincoln. When was the last time she or her siblings got punished? Lori honestly couldn't remember. When was the last time they returned the favor for Lincoln when he did something nice for them? She couldn't tell you. Why did it seem like Lincoln was the go to person to blame? She didn't know.

What was going on now was a far cry from when the white haired boy was a baby. She remembered feeding him mint chip ice cream, drawing with him, doing finger paintings, and playing peek-a-boo. Things were so much simpler back then, and all things that he wouldn't remember doing since he was a baby at the time. So they would have to make new good memories as he grew up. But with the introspect of this recent debacle, it dawned on Lori that, for all of the chaos of the Loud House, thinking of a good memory was a lot harder than remembering all of the bad and chaotic ones.

The bossiness, the prank-apocalypses, experiments, blackmailing, infestations, jump scaring, ear busting music, idiocy, dirty diapers, roughhousing, dutch ovens, and forced sparring. It was no wonder that someone would be done with it all in a week, if that. Heck, it was a wonder how Lincoln managed to keep it together after eleven years. Suddenly the moniker of being 'The Man with the Plan' took a bit of a scarier turn when Lori thought of _WHY_ Lincoln would need to plan.

To be one step ahead, prepared for anything, and ready to take the chaos head on. If Lincoln were here right now Lori would definitely show more love and gratitude to her brother than she did before.

"But he isn't here." Lori sniffled. "Some nutjob walked right into the backyard and took him away." Upon her realization last night she wanted to work to strengthen her bond with Lincoln, to make good memories not just chaotic ones, and make it up to her brother for all of the shit the family had put him through. Especially with what went down last night.

But now that wasn't possible. Why?

"Because Lori Loud, and the rest of her family, were a bunch of superstitious, hypocritical morons." Lori growled as she pounded her fist into her bed.

Wasn't it her parents who said that they would never throw out one of their own children? And didn't she and the rest of the sister's say to Lincoln that they would never let their parents throw Lincoln out?

"God," Lori thought, "was Hitler this hypocritical?"

Well, what happened with Hitler ended with the death of billions. What she and her family did ended putting a child in danger of nature, sexual predators, kidnappers, traffickers, and murderers. Bit of a tough call since both are equally horrible for their own reasons.

Leni, who had been bawling her eyes out onto her own pillow, briefly turned her head to the side to breath a bit better. And in the window she thought that she saw a literal black man in a suit and top hat. But after a blink he was gone, so she just ignored it.

* * *

The Shadow Man watched as each member of the family took the news of their only son and brother was missing in their own ways. The most common of which was bawling their eyes out until their tear ducts went dry for the day. But he didn't care because it was all going according to plan.

"You're despicable." Said a voice from behind.

The Shadow Man turned with a smile as he met with one of the spiritual residents of the Loud House. "Hello Harriet, lovely day isn't it." It wasn't a question.

Harriet glared at the shadowy one from behind her hair. "You lied to my great grandson."

"Sorry to burst your bubble," said the Shadow Man, "but I never said one fib to that boy. Everything I said was the truth. I said that the deal wasn't illegal, bloody, or malicious." He chuckled at the scowl Harriet gave him. "I only said things about the deal itself, not what the deal was for."

Harriet's scowl went deeper. "Lucy will-."

"Already has the pieces," the Shadow Man interrupted, "she just doesn't know how or why. All she knows is that something brought her brother to the other side, that I have something to do with it, and that the wraith is in the house."

Harriet looked as if she was about to burst in rage.

"If your family had treated the boy better than I wouldn't have come here." He walked past her. "You can say anything about me to her all you want. But it'll never change the fact that I'm the only one who can give any skinny on little Linky." He let out a belt of laughter as he left.

Harriet turned away from Lincoln's door to where his bed once was, glaring at the glimmering black line that lead to the realm of the wraith that had taken refuge in her descendents home.

She sighed in worry, not for most of her family, but for Lucy and Lincoln. While she was disappointed in the both of them, she hoped that they would make it out of this alright.

* * *

 **A/N: Another chapter come and gone. Let me know what you think, and what you think is going to happen in the reviews.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Chapter 3 of Shadow Luck is here. As usual I own nothing, everything belongs to their respective owners. Except the Shadow Man, he belongs to me.**

* * *

Setting up a ritual was not an easy thing to do, no matter what TV tells you, especially when you live in a house with ten sisters, one brother, four pets, and two parents. So when Lynn went to the batting cage to practice for her next game, Lori, Leni and Luna went out with Lynn Sr. and Rita to look for Lincoln, and Lola, Lana, Lisa and Lily watched TV to try and get their minds off of their missing brother. Lucy setup a summoning ritual in the basement.

Within the confines of her secret corner in the underground floor, the eight year old goth finished lighting the last of the black scented candles, drawing a pentagram with the necessary symbols, and opened the spell book of her Great Grandma Harriet. With three spaced out knocks on the ground the flames atop the candles turned blue as the ancient magic took hold.

 _"Sullied earth and blackened sky,_

 _I call for a soul of the dead to once again rise."_

The girl plucked out a single hair from her head and placed it in the pentagram.

 _"With hair of offspring still very much living._

 _May a spirit of old talk with a descendent still breathing."_

As the pale child continued the spell, the hair in the pentagram vanished in a flurry of blue sparkles as a shadow began to take form on the wall.

 _"With a dead heart and blackened soul,_

 _I make this magic completely whole._

 _Come bequeath your knowledge to me._

 _When that is done, you may go free!"_

With the spell said and done, and the shadow fully formed, the flames turned white as it began to peel off the wall. With batted breath Lucy watched as the shadow twisted and morphed to take the form of her chosen spirit. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, the transforming stopped, revealing the spirit to be a girl with the exact spitting image of Lucy herself.

* * *

"Hello Lucy," said the spirit with a warm smile.

"Hello Great Grandma Harriet." Lucy responded in kind as she formed a small smile of her own.

"I suppose you're calling me about your brother." Harriet said as her smile gained a melancholy twinge to it.

"Yes," Lucy said as her smile dropped, "yes I am."

"And you want to know if he's you know." Harriet said.

"Is he?" Lucy asked.

"No, he's not." Harriet answered much to Lucy's relief. "At least, not in the traditional sense."

Lucy frowned at that second answer. "What do you mean, "not in the traditional sense?"

"He's not dead as in blood spilt, heart stopped, no longer living dead." Harriet explained. "He's dead in a way modern technology will never be able to heal: spiritually. And even then it's a different kind of spiritual death."

Lucy paled making her appear more white than normal. "What do you mean?"

Harriet sighed. "His body is still functioning as it normally would. Brain is taking care of it's most necessary functions, still breathing, and his heart hasn't stopped. But his mind and soul have been removed. His body is nothing more than a puppet waiting for orders now."

Lucy paled even more, shocked by what Harriet had just told her. While she had wondered of the intricacies of magic, especially dark magic, she never wanted one of her family to face the brunt of that type of dark magic. Then she remembered the shadowy entity that waved at her from behind the tree in the backyard, and the skeletal being that outright picked up Lincoln's body and, probably, went into the house.

So, with shaky breath, she asked. "How? How did it happen?" Even though she could already gander a guess.

Harriet dropped her smile and gazed at her identical great granddaughter in full seriousness. "The Shadow Man," she said, "a being from another universe who searches for miserable people in deplorable situations in hopes of making a deal with them."

"Like Satan?" Lucy asked.

Harriet hummed in thought for a moment before answering. "Similar, but not quite."

"Ah." Lucy said in understanding. "Continue."

"Thank you," Harriet said before continuing, "I don't know much on how his deals work, sadly, but what I do know is what the general gist of it is."

"And what's that?" Lucy asked as she took out a notebook and pencil.

"Emotions and what they can turn you into." Harriet said.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Think of a deal with the Shadow Man as a scale." Harriet explained. "One one end are emotions such as Joy, Hope, Courage, and other emotions generally deemed positive."

Lucy nodded as she wrote everything down.

"On the other end are emotions like Rage, Despair, Fear, Envy, Sorrow and other emotions deemed negative." Harriet continued as Lucy jotted it down. "When someone makes a deal they go to either side of the scale depending on their emotions and emotional state throughout the course of the deal. When someone either fully embraces or becomes completely consumed by either sides emotions, they either ascend or descend into something other than what they were before."

"Like an angel or demon?" Lucy asked.

Harriet was about to answer but thought better of it and thought over her answer for a moment. Eventually she replied. "Those are options, yes." Lucy opened her mouth to ask before Harriet answered her unspoken question. "No, Lincoln is not a demon. He wasn't consumed by unjust or murderous rage, or obsession."

Lucy then asked. "Then what is he?"

"A Wraith." Harriet answered. "An abstract entity born of envy, fear, and-." She stopped herself.

Curiosity getting the better of her Lucy asked. "And what?" Harriet didn't respond. "Great Grandma Harriet, please tell me what else a wraith is born from. If that is what Lincoln is then I have to know." No response as Harriet turned from Lucy.

"You won't like it." She said.

Lucy sighed and did something she thought she'd never do. "Grandma Harriet," Harriet turned back to Lucy and gasped, "please tell me."

Fully turning to her great granddaughter Harriet softly smiled. "So you do have my eyes."

She revealed her eyes.

Silence dominated before Harriet sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'll tell you, but you must promise me that you won't mope about it and try to do something about it."

Lucy nodded. "I promise." She swore.

"Alright," Harriet said, "the last emotion a wraith is born from is despair."

Lucy was so white that she could be considered a ghost herself if someone saw her.

"D-D-D-Despair?" Lucy stuttered as tears began to well into her eyes.

"Yes." Harriet said.

"Ho-h-how?" She shakily asked.

"Tell me Lucile, have you and the rest of your sister gotten into genuine trouble with your parents and properly punished in recent times?" Harriet asked.

Lucy thought to herself for a bit before answering. "There was the time we got the family kicked out of the store we usually go to."

"But Lincoln was the one who got yelled at and punished, and while you did get him that cereal he wanted to get, you only got punished a couple days into Lincoln's punishment after Rita put two and two together." Harriet said.

"Uh, there was," Lucy said as she searched her head for any instance where they had gotten in trouble with their parents, got punished, and didn't somehow scapegoat Lincoln or drag him into it. "There was the sweet spot incident, but then again Lincoln did accommodate the seats for us, and we were the ones who made it a problem in the first place. The suite and sour incident, no, wait, Mom and Dad were the reason we were kicked out. Um, oh, the whole Princess Pony thing, that I still need to come clean about."

"Good, good, anything else?" Harriet asked.

Lucy thought harder and came to a realization. Out of those instances Lincoln was either not entirely in the wrong, not the source of the problem, falsely punished, or rightfully punished along with everyone who was wrong. So, in a diligent effort to find an instance that matched Harriet's quota, she thought longer and harder. Unfortunately, as she thought, she was racked with the shock and sorrow that spawned from this entire situation and thus couldn't think clearly.*

"What were the names of all the incidents in the past few months Lincoln coined, where he seemed to be the butt monkey for no real reason?" Lucy thought to herself. "Cereal Offender, Dance, Dance Resolution, Girl Guru, Study Muffin, Brawl in the Family, Sounds of Silence, It's a Loud Loud Loud Loud House, and then there's the whole luck thing that's been going on."

As Lucy thought over the events of the past few months the more she began to see Harriet's point. Despite some instances where she and the rest of sisters got in trouble. They, more often than not, just seemed to get away with it with no consequences on their part. Whereas Lincoln is treated like the plague for simply wanting some alone time.

"A bit off due to the guilt preying on her mind, but close enough to get my point." Harriet thought to herself before asking, "Do you see my point?"

Lucy nodded numbly.

Harriet's form began to twist back into the shadow it once was. "Then rectify it." She said. "The Wraith is in his room, and there's more information on them in the back of my spell book. Good luck, Lucile Loud." Harriet said as her form completely dispelled, returned to being the shadowy mass is was, and reattached itself to the wall as the flames on the candles snuffed themselves out.

As her hair covered her eyes once more the gothic girl quickly erased the pentagon, collected the unmelted candles, grabbed the spell book, and frantically traversed the vents back to her room. Upon returning the items to her shelves, the dark kid went back into the vents and entered Lincoln's room.

Only to see an ethereal and off-white tear in the wall that exuded melancholy and despair.

"'Bout time you showed up." Said a voice from behind the goth, who quickly turned around to see who had spoken.

Only to see the Shadow Man doing tricks with a deck of tarot cards and holding them out to her.

"Pick a card," he said, "any card." He finished with a chilling laugh.

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you think in the reviews.**

 ***Edit - 1/6/18 - I noticed that this line was missing, and decided to add it. Without it, this fic would be seen as just another No Such Luck Hate/Family Bashing fic.**


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